An Interrogation
by CreativeReading
Summary: A sequel to "A Detour". After the Battle of New York, Natasha interrogates Loki.


**An Interrogation**

Sequel to "A Detour"- After the Battle of New York, Black Widow interrogates Loki to find out if Thanos or the Chitauri are coming back.

* * *

Natasha sat there in silence for a good five minutes. Sometimes, prisoners are uncomfortable with silence. They rush in, trying to distract their interrogators or misdirect them. But even those attempts at subterfuge were helpful. They let you know what your prisoner doesn't want to talk about, what your prisoner is trying to hide.

Loki just stood there, unblinking, a slight smile gracing his face. He wasn't pacing, although with the beating he had just taken, Natasha was surprised he was even upright. His alien heritage was made of sterner stuff than the humans she was used to dealing with.

With Thor anxiously watching them via the monitors in the control room, Natasha didn't have the option of any direct coercion, although that was rarely her style. It's not that you couldn't get information from someone with physical or psychological torture, but the problem was the intel was usually corrupted or worse, completely false. People will say anything to stop the pain, no matter the type. Break someone and they will talk, but it's rarely anything worth hearing.

Luckily, Natasha had a different skill set. She had long ago found ways to get information from people, often without them even realizing they had given it up. Her favorite technique was to get her marks to underestimate her. That wasn't going to work, however, with Loki. She had been able to coax some information about his plans on the hellcarrier with it, but as she looked into his eyes, she was certain that he knew exactly who and what she was.

So, she was going to try a different tactic. It wasn't one that she used often, but she had long ago decided to use every advantage she had.

"You shot at me."

"I what?" Loki asked, rearing back his head.

"You shot at me. When I was on the Chitauri flyer, going after the Tesseract. You shot at me," she reiterated.

"Well, I couldn't have you mucking up my plans, now could I?" he said, with his faux polite grin.

"Are you a good shot, Loki? You're a thousand years old. You've had centuries of practice."

"It is one of my many skills," he replied, eyes narrowed. She could see that he saw the trap she was laying.

"And yet you missed me. Repeatedly. Why is that?" she asked.

"Well, lots of things can happen in the heat of battle. It was unfamiliar weaponry after all," he said dismissively.

Natasha genuinely smiled at the lie. He was playing with her. He was enjoying himself.

"Weaponry that I figured out in about ten seconds, so I'm assuming you did, too. That may have been the most important battle of your life. And yet you missed," she pressed.

"It hardly mattered," he said as he turned away, but she caught the flash of anger.

"I was the one that stopped the Tesseract. I was the one that closed the portal. Without me, you would be king of this little world," she said.

He sat down slowly on the narrow bunk in his cell. "A miscalculation on my part."

"Why did you miss?"

"Are you going to spend the entire night asking the same infernal question?" he asked as irritation dripped from every word.

"I might," she said and shifted in her seat. A straight back chair might be fine for a few minutes, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she might be there for hours. She briefly wondered if she could get Fury to bring in an overstuffed arm chair, but it would probably send Loki the wrong message.

"It hardly seems a productive use of your time."

"I wouldn't worry about how I use my time if I were you. So, you missed me, obviously on purpose, given centuries of training and practice. And you warned me that the hellcarrier would crash. So, why?"

"It seems you've formed your own opinion."

"I'd like to hear you say it."

"I am sure you'd like a great many things. What is your purpose in all of this?" he asked.

"I told you at the beginning. We just need to determine if Thanos or the Chitauri are going to try to invade again," she said.

"And what will you do if he returns? Call on Thor to protect you once again? He'll be busy ruling his own realm. He'll not run to save you a second time," he sneered.

"We defeated both you and them in less than an hour. Even without your brother's help, I doubt we'd be too outmatched a second time."

"He's not my brother," he said tightly.

"So you keep saying."

"If you are so sure of your ability to defeat them, why come to me for information?" he scowled.

"It always helps to have a heads up."

"Of course, they will return," he snapped. "Maybe in a hundred years, maybe in a thousand. What does it matter? Your lives are so fleeting."

"They don't feel fleeting to us," Natasha observed.

"Oh, but they are. You are here today and gone tomorrow. It is a cruel twist of fate for your lot. Out of all the Nine Realms, you are the shortest-lived. It is impossible to become attached to insects that blink in and out of existence."

"And have you? Become attached?" Natasha asked.

"What are you driving at?"

"You've saved my life twice. Or, at the very least, took great pains to avoid killing me. Why? Why, if I am here today and gone tomorrow?"

"A foolish whim on my part, I suppose."

"A whim that ultimately destroyed your plans for world domination. Do you regret it?" Natasha asked.

"I regret a great many things," Loki hedged.

"Do you regret not killing me?" Natasha repeated.

"What is it you are trying to get from me, Agent Romanoff? Information or a simpering declaration of love and affection?" Loki asked.

Natasha grinned. This was just starting to get fun. "Why not both?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"You're enjoying yourself," Loki observed.

"One should always enjoy one's job."

"Is that all this is to you, Agent Romanoff? A mere vocation? I think not. This is your life's mission. You forget, I've spoken with Agent Barton. I know more about you than you'd like."

"I wouldn't mention Clint if I were you," Natasha said tightly.

"And why not? For you, that's my worst crime, is it not? Corrupting the poor mind of your comrade in arms? You bluster about the destruction that I wrought, but, at the end of the day, this is all about one man."

"Leave him out of this," she snarled.

"Oh, but Agent Romanoff, that is what is at the center of all of this. Would you have opposed me so vehemently if I hadn't had compromised your little friend? You know, he's unworthy of such devotion."

"And are you worthy? Worthy of devotion?" she shot back.

"I am worthy of a crown."

"And yet, you don't even have one real follower, do you? I mean, even the worst evil masterminds I've been up against have had a least of couple of sidekicks hanging around. You actually had to brainwash people to do your bidding. Without the scepter, you have absolutely no one. You've lived for a thousand years and you don't have a single friend in the entire universe. Well, except for the brother you want nothing to do with."

"He's not my brother!" Loki screamed.

"And yet, without him, you have nothing. You have no one. Is that why you got attached to me, the puny insect? You found out about my dark past and you hoped to find what? A fellow monster? Someone to make you feel not quite so alone?"

"That's . . . . that's not it," Loki protested, but his words lacked conviction.

"So, what was the endgame? We rule the smoking ruins of this world together? Chitauri swarming over it like locusts? Death and destruction everywhere? Was that going to be the happy ending to this story? We'd wade in the blood of the innocents together?"

"Nobody's innocent," Loki said dully.

"That's just something people like us say to make us feel better. Doesn't make it true," Natasha said lightly.

"People like us?" Loki repeated, a glimmer of hope shining through.

"I know my crimes better than you do. Loki," Natasha began gently, "are they coming back?"

Loki sighed. "They haven't the means to create another portal at the moment. But, once they obtain one . . . " he trailed off.

"They'll return?"

"Thanos courts death and destruction. He revels in it. He will obliterate everything."

"What does he want?" Natasha asked.

"Oh, my dear, that's the problem. There is nothing to appease him. There is nothing that will dissuade him. He craves the ashes, the leveling of everything. You have no hope to oppose him. He will come and this world will burn."

"Did you try to oppose him?"

"Briefly. After I fell, well, let's just say that there are parts of the void that are quite unpleasant places to visit. When I first made his acquaintance, I tried to resist Thanos' plans, but I was shown the error of my ways."

"Are you tryng to say you had no choice?" Natasha scoffed.

"Oh no, my dear, I am no hero. I didn't resist for very long at all. I allowed myself to be lulled by the seduction of Thanos' lies. I knew they were lies, of course, but like I said, they were much more pleasant than the alternative."

"What will happen to you, now?"

"I expect that Odin will scold me most severely. Send me to the dungeons, perhaps even the ax. Who knows?" he said with a bitter grin.

"You killed dozens, maybe hundreds of people."

"That I did. Shall we compare numbers? I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he offered with a seductive laugh.

"This isn't some sort of sick joke," she snapped.

"Oh, my dear, but it is a joke. A grand cosmic joke. I finally find a monster just as twisted as I am and she's housed in a frail human body destined for an early grave."

"I am not frail," she said firmly.

"For a human, no, you're not. You're extraordinary. But at most, you'll last what? Six more decades? Seven? And given your line of work, it'll probably be a lot less than that. What will you do, Natasha, when your reflexes begin to slow? When your vision begins to blur? It'll happen and sooner than you think."

"Well, aren't you a ball of sunshine," Natasha quipped.

"I've never been accused of being overly optimistic," Loki said dryly.

Natasha stood. She had gotten all the useful information she would from him. "I should go. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Until we meet again, Natasha," Loki said.

"Given where you're going, that isn't likely."

Loki gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't be quite so sure."

* * *

**Author's** **Note**- Shout-out to Flaignhan, who is an amazing Blackfrost writer and my inspiraton for dipping my toes into the Blackfrost pond.


End file.
